MOBILITY
Car commerce starts its engines
Will Mercedes-Benz ’ tie-up with Visa spur a new era of in-car spending ?
WRITTEN BY : DOMINIC ELLIS
We ’ ve all become accustomed to using our phones as our wallets , and now another convergence is rapidly approaching in the wing mirror . From this spring , Visa ' s technology will allow Mercedes-Benz customers in the UK and Germany to pay for goods and services using their fingerprint in the car .
Entering passwords or relying on mobile devices for payment authentication may soon be a thing of the past as the vehicle itself becomes a biometrically enabled payments device . Purchases can be made directly through the car ’ s head unit , or MBUX . The solution is anticipated to be available in other markets globally at a later stage .
Antony Cahill , Deputy CEO and Head of European Markets , at Visa in Europe , said he was excited to bring to life a native solution for in-car payments for the first time , together with Daimler Mobility .
“ This is a powerful example of how the world ’ s leader in digital payments and the inventor of the automobile are able to combine their technologies to create the next generation of smart solutions for the automobility sector , providing the driver and
64 January 2022